My Three Years on Probation

At our 30th reunion in 2007, I found myself between jobs.  My employer of 24 years decided to offer an early retirement package.  I was 47 and eligible to apply because I had been there so long.  To be clear, an early retirement incentive isn't like getting a pension for life making it unnecessary to work from then on; it's the rolling of one's retirement contributions into an IRA along with an extra incentive for parting ways with the company early.

When a company starts offering incentives to leave, it may be a harbinger of things to come.  Pushing experienced people out the door to save money is often an act of desperation.

I had been working in the high tech manufacturing field my entire career and it was clear that it was rapidly moving to China.  The manufacturing jobs had already moved there.  The company, which at one time had 8000 employees in northern Colorado had dwindled down to a small fraction of that number and the work I was doing involved a lot of travel to places like Taiwan and China.  I felt like I was helping to transition the remaining jobs to China.  At some point one of those jobs would be mine.  I wanted to leave on favorable terms while I could.

For a few years after I left HP I did consulting work, mostly related to designing new products for start-up businesses.  Although it was interesting work, it was also not very stable because it depended on investors who were willing to fund new and unproven ideas and markets.  Sometimes the money would run out, and if you accepted stock or some other form of deferred compensation, you were out of luck.  You learn pretty quickly it's not a good idea in startup situations to accept deferred compensation.  For every story you hear about someone getting rich when a company goes public, there are many more situations where people lose all the time and money they invested in a start-up.

At the time I was doing consulting, I found that I needed to update some of my programming skills because the Internet had changed everything related to programming in a very short time, so I enrolled in some classes at Aims community college which is conveniently located about a mile from where I live.  While taking these classes, the professor noticed that I was helping other students debug their programs since many of them were new to programming.  He began to recruit me to be a tutor for his classes.  I found that if you really want to learn a skill, you should try teaching it to someone else.  You'll be amazed at how much better you understand it in the end.  So I agreed.

I spent an afternoon each week helping students with their programming assignments while still engaged in my consulting gigs.  As I became friends with the other teachers in the Computer Information Systems department, they would often tell me that their teaching job at the college was the best job they ever had, and all of them had spent time in industry prior to becoming teachers.  The college offered me a class to teach as a part-time instructor.  I found that I enjoyed interacting with students, and the technology was always changing so I was learning continuously and I liked that aspect of it.

Most of the CIS instructors were about 10 years older than me and they started retiring one after the other.  When a position came up three years ago, I applied for it and began teaching full time.  I teach subjects related to web programming, operating systems, and PC applications.  It's been a great opportunity and I feel very fortunate to be there.  The campus is beautiful, the other instructors are fun to work with, and every year I get to meet a new group of students.

When I was a grad student at Penn State, I had been a teaching assistant and taught lab classes in subjects like welding, machining, and computer programming, and I found the environment fun and stimulating.  I didn't want to leave.  Several of my colleagues never did leave academia.  They went on to earn PhDs and began teaching at universities around the country.  But I wanted to get some practical experience in the field of engineering so I ended up taking a job with HP in Colorado.  The idea of teaching would come up from time to time, but to teach at a university, you need a PhD.  And that takes a lot of time and effort.  And there's a risk to it.  To earn tenure at a university, that is, to keep your job, you need to be constantly publishing research papers and getting grant money.  Your ability to teach is hardly taken into consideration.  And it can take up to 7 years before you know if you have tenure or if you have to leave and look elsewhere for employment.

However, community colleges are different.  They will hire instructors with Masters degrees, and they truly value industry experience.  To get tenure, all you have to do is teach.

For the first three years of full time employment, I have been on probation.   I could be let go at any time for any reason while on probation.  But if I proved that I could teach, and I didn't screw up, I would be taken off of probation and given tenure.  Tenure doesn't mean you have a job for life regardless of what you do,  but if the college wants to fire a tenured professor it has to be for a good reason and must be done using due process.

So, as of this month, I am no longer on probation.  And it feels good because the word 'probation' has such negative connotations.

Were you expecting a story of some criminal activity that earned me my 3-year stint of probation?  I am sorry if you think I tricked you with the title of the article.  But would you have read the article had I not used the word probation?

This article  is way of letting anyone who reads it to know what I've been doing since our last reunion.  I've left out a lot of details, of course, and if you're curious, I can fill you in at the reunion.

But since I've gotten my story out of the way, how about it if we talk about you instead?

The Pursuit of Perfect Pizza

How far would you drive for your favorite food?  Would you drive to Penn State to have one of those famous sticky buns at Ye Olde College Diner?  Would you drive to Pat's in Philadelphia for a famous Philly Cheesesteak?  How about driving to Pittsburgh for a Primanti Sandwich?

While growing up on Slocum Street in Swoyersville, I ate a lot of Bingo's hoagies.  I can lay claim to having eaten the very first one.  Bingo was looking to do something a bit different and he figured making a hoagies would be something out of the ordinary for a grocery store.  He made a small sandwich for me with ham, salami, lettuce, tomato and cheese and asked me how I liked it.  This was marketing research at its finest.   Although I didn't fall in love with the sandwich when I first tasted it, but I liked the way it made me feel after I ate it.  It was nutritious, unlike most of the other food items he offered like potato chips, Tastykakes, and soda which, like all junk food, only make you feel good while you're eating them and not so good later on.   My mom told me that I might have turned out to be a scrawny kid had it not been for the Bingo's hoagies because I was a picky eater.  And what I ate was mostly junk food.  I eventually fell in love with the his hoagies as did a lot of my friends and other people from around Wyoming Valley.  Bingo's idea of selling hoagies at his store really put him on the map.

Bingo's store was busy all day long.  Lots of truckers and locals stopped and picked up a hoagie or two for lunch.  And, of course, they bought the chips, soda, and Tastykakes which is probably where he made most of his money because his hoagies were less than a dollar.  They started off at $.65 in the early 70's.

In the summers I sometimes got to help Bingo shop for his goods.  As some of you may know, Bingo was missing a leg, the result of an accident involving a train when he was just a boy so he appreciated the help.  Right around sunrise, we'd drive over to Wilkes-Barre in his station wagon and visit the fresh fruit and vegetable stands.  I recall one of them was operated by Stanley Tarutis.  There were actually two Tarutis fruit stands operated by brothers who competed with each other in the business located on Wilkes-Barre Boulevard which looked a lot different back then than it does today.  Then we'd head over to a multi-storey warehouse where we'd load up on canned goods.

After that we'd go to Robzen's slaughterhouse which, at the time, was over in north Wilkes-Barre.  I thought they had shut it down, but it appears they've moved part of that operation to Main Street in Swoyersville.  We'd watch the cattle being led into the back door.  They wouldn't let us kids see the kill floor, but just after that was an overhead conveyer where the carcasses would get 'disassembled' by men working with cleavers and sharp knives.  It was like that scene in Rocky except these carcasses were constantly moving.  It was refrigerated and the men had heavy clothes on under their white coats.

As you know from my posts, I am fascinated with pizza from Pennsylvania, and I look forward to having some when I am at the reunion ice-breaker in July.  It's hard to find good pizza in Colorado.  The market is dominated by the national brands like Papa John's, Pizza Hut, Old Chicago, etc.   We have a few mom and pop pizza shops around, but we've yet to fall in love with any of them.

However,  there is this place up in Breckenridge, CO called  Gianpietro's Pasta and Pizza and it is great, the best pizza we've had in Colorado.  So great, in fact, that we made the trip up there yesterday and it's 140 miles from where we live.   It was a beautiful day for a ride through Colorado's Rocky Mountains, so our trip wasn't just for the pizza.  And Breckenridge is a beautiful town for a walk.  It is an old mining town turned ski resort, so there is a lot to see and do around town.  It's become one of our favorite places in Colorado.

Even in mid June, the mountains near Breckenridge still are covered with snow.

And speaking of mining,  I like to watch the reality series Gold Rush and this season, the Hoffman crew is mining not far from Breckenridge over in Fairplay so we decided to go over there and look around to see if we could find their operation.   There wasn't much happening, maybe because it was Sunday.  I may have to go back on a weekday to see if I can spot any of the crew or watch the proceedings.

The Hoffman crew of Gold Rush have their mining operation set up near Fairplay, CO

So it turned out to be a pleasant day of walking around Breckenridge and taking in the sights.

And the pizza was great!

Let me show you my tattoo...

I am a product of my generation.  I did all the things that my friends did when I was young because I was impressionable.  Back in those days, people who had tattoos got them to stand out from the crowd.  They were the badasses.  I'm not so sure that's why people get them today.  It may be more to fit in.  Ten years after we graduated, Gregg Allman's song "I'm No Angel" was popular, and it contained the line, 'Let me show you my tattoo', which was still a bit badass at the time.

In the 1980's, a tattoo was still a symbol of one's individuality and belief in personal freedom.

When I look back at pictures of myself from that era, I realize that I did many things because everyone else was doing them.  The 70's clothes, like bell bottoms (with cuffs!), outrageous patterns and colors, platform shoes, the hairstyles, smoking... I am not proud of those things.   If I could take it all back, I would.   I'm just glad those lifestyle choices were not as permanent as having a tattoo.  A tattoo leaves a permanent record of your evolution.

But if I was born a decade or two later, I'm sure I'd have to have some tattoos just to fit in.  And if I did decide to get some tats, I can't think of any finer than these beauties:

What better way to offer a 'how to' printed right on your body on how one might acquire this fine physique.  I admire his loyalty to companies he's obviously passionate about.  He owns it.  He is proud of it.  You just have to admire that level of self-awareness.

Things to do in NEPA besides the reunion

I was looking for things to do in the area during our reunion and noticed that there is a concert going on at Montage that is at exactly the same time as our reunion.  In looking that the description of the event, it's a 3-day camping event much like Woodstock for a genre of music that I have no experience with.  It falls into the category of 'trance fusion'.

In talking with one of my students  recently who is a musician, he was lamenting that the only music that draws big crowds these days is EDM (Electronic Dance Music).  The group headlining the event are the Disco Biscuits (hence the event name Camp Bisco).  This Philadelphia group has been around for over 20 years and yet I had never heard of them.  They are known as a 'jam band' whose songs can go on for 10 minutes or more.  When a song goes much over 3 minutes, it can't get any radio airplay which could explain why I've never heard of them.  

"If you're gonna have a hit you gotta make it fit." If you know the answer to the artist with a hit song containing those lyrics, please post a comment at the end and I'll buy you a drink at the ice breaker if you are the first to recognize it.

There are more than 60 other bands participating in the event and I have never heard of ANY of them.  Talk about feeling out of touch with the current music scene.

I understand that millennials are all about the 'experience'.   They want to feel an altered state of consciousness and EDM gives them that feeling with a thundering bass and a seamless mix of somewhat familiar melodies.   House music and perhaps a little ecstasy helps them to achieve this result.  I'm not judging.  We had The Grateful Dead, pot, alcohol, and quaaludes.  This generation has EDM and ecstasy and Molly.

Perhaps the modern music scene has passed me by.  It's OK.  I know we'll have great music at our ice  breaker and reunion.

When considering other things to do in NEPA I thought about the Lackawanna Coal Mine tour.

I grew up in Swoyersville, just a few hundred yards from the Harry E. coal breaker that was still operating when I was young.   I was lulled to sleep by it's clatter.  We used to explore it when it closed.   I even crawled down into a few abandoned coal shafts in the Swoyersville mountains.  I did that until we had a family friend who got lost in one of the abandoned mines for several days and may have died along with a few of his friends had they not told someone who decided not to do it who told the authorities when they did not show up that night.  That really scared me.  But I've always been fascinated by NEPA's mining history.

In looking over some of my family's history on census records dating back into the 1800's, I found that many of my relatives were involved in coal mining.  It was a hard, dirty, dangerous work, yet our ancestors left their homelands to come to a new country where they didn't speak the language to engage in mining.   I can't imagine what things must have been in Europe to induce that level of motivation to sign up for a career in deep mining.

I want to do the coal mine tour since I've never done it.  I'm not sure which day, but I think it's a great way to understand what put Wyoming Valley on the map.

You can read more about it here or here.

NEPA Pizza

I have talked about food on this blog a lot.  One of those foods is pizza.  Seriously.  I have. You can type 'pizza' into the search box up in the upper left hand corner search box and you'll find many articles on the blog that mention it.

The pizza available in NEPA is like nowhere else on earth.  I'm even talking about the pizza in Italy, which is very good, but not like what you find in NEPA.

Each place makes it differently.  And the one place that has a corner on the market of 'different' is Victory Pig in Wyoming.  There are a lot of copycat types of this pizza around the valley, and many of them are really good, but for those who need the original, no other pizza will do.

At the ice breaker, we will have pizza.  We had our ice breaker for the 25th reunion at Victory Pig, but they didn't know how to handle a group as large as ours.   We wanted to talk, mingle, and eat pizza and it was hard to do because the regulars just wanted to sit in the restaurant and eat their pizza in peace.   It wasn't a venue that allowed much in the way of interaction.

I'm also partial to Savoy Pizza.  I grew up with it.  I have their phone number memorized even though I haved lived away from the valley since 1979.    It's 287-9969.  I must have dialed that number a lot.

I know they moved from Luzerne to Larksville, but the recipe is still the same.  I always try to make sure I have some Savoy pizza whenever I visit.

Fortunately, our ice breaker for the 40th will be at a pavilion which will allow us more freedom.  You can see an image of it below.  It's the American Legion pavilion on Shoemaker Street in Swoyersville.  We  plan to pick up some local pizza and bring it to the pavilion.

We can talk, mingle, and  order whatever kind of pizza we like.  There will be a cash bar. We will also be able to get food from a bazaar that will be taking place just a half mile away.

I'm thinking about pierogies, potato pancakes, and any other food items you can find in NEPA.

Do any of you have any special requests?

Potato Pancakes

When I was growing up, I dreaded the days my mom cooked potato pancakes for dinner.
Last year I found out why.  She didn't cook them with the oil at a high enough temperature.  To be fair, my mom grew up in Ireland, where they didn't know anything about potato pancakes.   So she learned how to cook them from my dad, who learned from his mom.

We visited my aunt in Florida recently, and she clued me in on what was probably going wrong.  Her mother cooked her potato pancakes in oil that wasn't hot enough and that made them undercooked.  There is nothing more disgusting than a potato pancake cooked in oil that isn't hot enough.

What you're looking at here are potato pancakes cooked in oil that is at 350 degrees.  This is how they should look.  And when they are cooked properly, they taste amazing.    I cooked these myself here in Colorado.  I'm pretty sure they were the first potato pancakes cooked in the state.   I'm serious.  How many of you have ventured very far from NEPA and found potato pancakes on the menu?   I rest my case.

I didn't have my first properly cooked potato pancake until I had one at a bazaar and then it hit me why they were so popular.  They were crispy and very tasty.  They weren't an oily mess like they are when you fry them in oil that is not up to the proper temperature.

Our reunion will be at the same time as a bazaar in Swoyersville.  It's at the church on 116 Hughes Street formerly known as Holy Trinity now known as St. Elisabeth Ann Seton church.  Some of you went to grade school there. It's within walking distance of our ice breaker, about a half mile.   I wonder if their potato pancakes will measure up.  Who wants to make a potato pancake run?

Music from the 70's

A few years ago I totaled my Durango.  It was my first accident in nearly 40 years of driving.  I narrowly escaped what would have been a fatal crash had I arrived a few seconds earlier as I would have been impacted in the driver's side door directly.  As it turned out, I hit the other guy who was traveling at a high rate of speed and spun him around into oncoming traffic.  Fortunately, there were no further collisions and we both walked away shaken but without a scratch.

It meant I had to replace my vehicle which was 15 years old (I tend to hang on to things for a very long time) and I stepped into the world of new features like satellite radio, built-in navigation, remote starting and adaptive cruise control.  It's like a computer with wheels.  What's next?  A self-driving car?   Who could have imagined this when we were in high school?

One of my very favorite channels on the satellite radio is "70's on 7" that plays nothing but 70's music and it reminds me of all the great music we had in our day.  It even shows the year the song was released. It's even fun to listen to the old disco hits from that era.

In studying the record industry, it seems that most people develop their music tastes and hence music collection, or at least most of it, between the ages of 12-24 and so that's the age group that is targeted on top 40 radio. I like some of the new music of today, but am still partial to what we had back then.  And there was a lot of variety too.  In addition to the aforementioned disco, there were love songs, country, folk, classic rock, metal, rock operas, you name it, we had it.   Except rap, we didn't have rap.  And I'm grateful for that. ;-)

Music from Our High School Days

On our 25th reunion, we had CDs with a number of songs on them that were chosen based on a vote by participants in the blog.  CDs seem a bit out of date these days much like the vinyl records of our youth but if you want to sample some of these songs, I have 10 of them here for your listening pleasure.

40th reunion set for July 15th, 2017

I was reminded on Facebook that today would have been Rick Leandri's 58th birthday. The last entry in this blog is his obituary. Most of you know that Rick passed away in October of 2016. He was our 9th classmate to pass. You can see the rest here.

We started this blog in May of 2002, over 15 years ago and long before Facebook and other social media sites became popular. It was a lot of fun to contribute to the conversation starting up to the 25th reunion, and quite a few of you did participate, but as of late, it's been used to share news, usually the sad news of a loved one's passing. And there have been a lot of our parents who passed away over the time since the blog began. I don't get them all posted, but if someone sends me an obituary link and I'll re-post it here for posterity's sake.

As of today, the 40th reunion is only 40 days away. I made my flight reservations today and I'd like to see if we could get the blog started up again since Facebook doesn't include all of our classmates. Facebook has some issues. I feel like it's an addictive substance that is trying desperately to steal my attention so I will be influenced to buy things that I really don't need. I got so frustrated with Facebook that I disabled my profile for the 4 months leading up to the 2016 election because it had gotten so noisy with all of the venting about politics. I re-enabled it after the election, primarily so I could monitor the BOR Class of 77 group only to find that the kvetching about politics in my newsfeed was even worse. I installed a plugin called FB purity to sort out postings based on certain keywords and now it gives me fewer of those stories. Political rants only occupy about half of my newsfeed now ;-).

I added a button to the main reunion page so you can pay for the reunion on-line with a PayPal account or Credit/Debit card if you find that more convenient than writing a check. I will forward the money on to Arlene.

If you'd like to contribute to the blog, let me know.  If you have an account with Google, it's pretty easy to do.

Rick Leandri

FRANCESTOWN – Richard R. Leandri, 57, of Francestown, died peacefully at his home October 20, 2016. Rick was diagnosed with A.L.S in November 2013. Although he experienced a slow, steady decline of body function, his courageous spirit endured until his final day.

Rick was born in Kingston, Pennsylvania on June 4, 1959, the son of Rudolph Leandri and Jean (Blassic) Leandri. He was raised in Luzerne, Pennsylvania and attended Bishop O Reilly High School. He received his Associates degree in Fashion Merchandising from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City (generally referred to as his clothes college, by his wife). He received his Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Bloomsburg University and went on to earn his MBA from Rivier University in 1990.

Rick's first job out of college was with Lord and Taylor on Fifth Avenue in New York City. He then left the city and relocated to New Hampshire to take a sales position for a major plumbing manufacturer. He met his wife, Vicki, in 1984. They purchased their first home in Francestown the following year. They fell in love with the town and never left.

Rick spent six years working as a financial consultant for Shearson, Lehman Brothers, and Tucker Anthony. He eventually transitioned from brokerage to IT software project management where he spent the next 16 years with Fidelity Investments and a few smaller companies. He was credentialed in project management as a PMP and Scrum master.

Rick was well known for his humor and quick wit. He was an avid runner for over 35 years, and completed two marathons and several half marathons. Rick enjoyed reading and sports, but his greatest passion was music. He had an extensive collection of vinyl records and vintage electronics (some have used the word hoarder). He loved to shop for deals, especially at yard sales, Goodwill and Ocean State Job Lot.

Rick was active in the local community. He served on the board of the Old Meeting House, volunteered at the Annual Labor Day Road Race, was a Cub Scout leader and coached youth sports.

Rick relished his time with family and friends. He especially enjoyed his family vacation in the Rocky Mountains during the summer of 2013.

Rick is survived by his loving wife of 32 years, Vicki (Biekert) Leandri and his three children; Paul Leandri of New London, New Hampshire, Cameron Leandri of Boston, Massachusetts and Stephanie Leandri of Montreal, Quebec Canada; his mother, Jean Leandri of Luzerne, Pennsylvania, his brother, Bill Leandri, and his wife, Chris, his sister, Norma Leandri, and her husband, Tom, of Dallas, Pennsylvania, his sister, Elena Leandri, of Forty Four, Pennsylvania and her partner, Jerome Crilley, his brother, Daniel Leandri and his wife, Kathy, of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania and his brother, David, and his wife, Susan, of Downingtown, Pennsylvania.

In addition, he is survived by his nieces and nephews, Holly and husband, Eric, Mandy and partner, Grant, Samantha and husband, Tom; Ali, Josh and wife, Sam, Jacob and wife, Jennie, Jesse, Alex, Melissa, James, Nathan and Benjamin.

He was pre-deceased by his father, Rudy Leandri and his sister, Linda Leandri.

Rick is also leaving behind Vicki's family. Rick was truly a son to her parents, brother to her siblings and very special uncle to each of his 13 nieces and nephews on the Biekert side.

Calling hours will be held on Thursday, October 27 from 4:00 p.m.to 7:00 p.m. at Jellison Funeral Home, 25 Concord Street, Peterborough.

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, October 29 at 11:00 a.m. at the Francestown Meeting House, 1 New Boston Road, Francestown. Pastor Beth Simmons will officiate.

In addition, a Mass of Remembrance will be held at the Holy Family Roman Catholic Church in Luzerne, Pennsylvania on Saturday November 19 at 10:00 a.m. following a visitation hour which starts at 9:00.

In lieu of flowers the family suggests that memorial contributions be made in Rick's name to:

Compassionate Care A.L.S. PO Box 1052, West Falmouth, MA  02574. www.ccals.org or A.L.S. Family Charitable Foundation, Inc. One Trowbridge Road, Suite 322 Bourne, MA 02532 www.alsfamily.org.

Jellison Funeral Home and Cremation Services is assisting the family with arrangements. To view an online obituary or to leave the family a condolence, please visit www.jellisonfuneralhome.com

The Golding Rule by Jim Lynch

This is another guest posting by Jim Lynch, our favorite English teacher from Bishop O'Reilly.  I still remember reading this book in 1974 as one of our class assignments.

The Golding Rule

            One of the standard assignments in my high school British Literature curriculum was William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Written in 1954, the novel concerns a group of pre-adolescent English boys stranded on a tropical island without adults, after an abortive attempt to evacuate them to safety during a nuclear war. Within a brief period of time, these children of a sophisticated Western European nation with a proud tradition of culture and civilization turn to bloodlust, savagery and murder. 

After the classes finished an exhaustive discussion of the novel, I always called for a personal and secret written response to a few pointed questions.  On scraps of paper they’d respond to the following: 1. If you and your entire class were stranded on a similar uncharted island for the rest of your lives, without hope of rescue, name the person in the class for whom you would vote to be chief. 2.  Excluding identification, is there any potential Jack Merridew (the antagonist who become a bloody dictator) in the class? 3. Without rescue, would the eventual outcome your stay on the island be positive or negative?

Invariably, their responses led me to wonder if we had read the same book. In their eighteen-year-old naive camaraderie, an overwhelming majority of my students: 1. Named a popular athlete or student council president as chief, 2. Refused to allow for the possibility that any of their peers could become ruthless savages, and 3. Thought that their acquired wisdom would allow them to overcome and solve any difficulties that arose.  “Gilligan’s Island” anyone?

After each and every such class response, I’d attempt to bring my students’ utopian vision more in line with Golding’s theme.  In the summer of 1972, I reminded them, Tropical Storm Agnes wrought devastation to the town surrounding the very school in which they now sat.  Many of my students were evacuated from the flood zone. After the Susquehanna’s raging waters finally subsided, I rode through the town in a panel truck, picking up flat tires from huge pay-loaders and delivering repaired ones, as an employee of a local tire company.

On every street corner, I’d continue to point out, were members of the National Guard carrying locked and loaded M-16’s, with orders to shoot looters on sight. Pennsylvania’s governor had declared a state of emergency, and the local police force was temporarily out of commission. Why would such an action be necessary in such an area filled with friendly family neighborhoods and small businesses? What could have been the governor’s reasons for such a move?  After moments of silence, the only response ever offered was a variation of, “That was different.”

  

I then would offer a theoretical proposition.  Suppose, I said, representatives of the police in their municipality had gone on the local news and indicated that protracted and unsuccessful negotiations for a new contract had broken down. Consequently, all members of the police department would go on strike as of midnight next Friday. Would the crime rate in their town, I asked, go up, go down or remain the same on that weekend? Once again I encountered initial silence, followed by, “That’s different.”

Reminding them that Golding crafted his story as a microcosm of larger society, I then asked why their parents paid hefty taxes to support a criminal justice system.  Beyond police protection, I said, why do we need courthouses, magistrates, judges, lawyers, and prison facilities?  Because there are bad people in society, they would respond, and we have to protect ourselves from them.  And all those bad people, I’d remind them, once sat in classes just like this one and had every opportunity to work hard, play by the rules, and choose happy and productive lives.

Ultimately, I would conclude class discussions of the book with my hope that my students would reopen the discussion at their 25^th class reunion, and my belief that, by that time, the seeds planted in their consciousness by Golding would have germinated in the soil of their maturity. While I appreciated their idealism, I found their naivete unsettling.  I only attended one such class reunion, but the alumni were having such a memorable evening catching up and sharing family photos that I was loath to raise the issue with anyone.

I seriously doubt, however, that the needle would have moved to a great degree in the direction of a pessimistic view of the human condition. While the signs are abundant, most prefer to avert their eyes and focus on family and friends, rather than the larger world.  Despite media websites, and twenty-four-hour cable news, people tend to push unpleasant intrusions into the background.

 Iran’s hell-bent quest for atomic weapons; Russia’s incursions into the Ukraine; ISIS’s mass beheading, burning and drowning, and its goal of a world-wide caliphate; domestic terrorism; a $19 trillion national debt with 93 million American adults unemployed; massive illegal immigration; race riots in St. Louis and Baltimore; soaring homicide rates in urban areas - let the people we elected deal with such things, while we are busy attending to our own problems. When it appears that crime is a little too close for comfort, we’ll simply have an ADT sign planted in our front yard and a deadbolt installed on our front door. 

Most people believe that if we live by the golden rule, we’ll all get along.  And for those few in society who don’t abide by that principle, we have police departments and a criminal justice system. The ugly reality that we don’t want to face, however, is that only a larger framework of laws makes it possible for anyone to abide by such an idealistic rule. For those who choose to live by a more primitive code of behavior, the golden rule is a fairy tale. 

People likely to ignore criminal law are only restrained by the penalties involved in breaking the law. When the laws cannot be enforced due to natural or man-made disasters, all bets are off, and the ranks of those few begin to swell. According to historian Will Durant, “Pugnacity, brutality, greed, and sexual readiness were advantages in the struggle for existence.”  Those “relics” of our emergence as a species, he cautions, are still firmly embedded in our DNA.  The systems of laws that have evolved over millennia were put in place to protect us from ourselves.

While most us are focused on mortgages, soccer practice for the kids and paying the bills, however, those laws are beginning to fray around the edges, along with many commonly held social mores and practices.  As the federal government looks the other way in the face of millions of illegal immigrants streaming across our southern border, and of mayors establishing sanctuary cities in defiance of federal law, society has also changed its views on acceptable behavior. The melting pot has been replaced by separate, “multi-cultural” groups with individual agendas.

Even when people do venture outside their home and work bubbles to offer an opinion on larger issues, they are subject to censure for being politically incorrect.  They aren’t successful because they have invested time and energy in education and career, but because of their “white privilege” (African-American success is often attributed to being an “Uncle Tom”).  In the absurdity of political correctness, domestic Islamist terrorism has been transformed into workplace violence, illegal immigrants have become undocumented immigrants, drug addicts are dubbed chemically-challenged, prostitutes are renamed sex workers, and an illegitimate baby becomes a love child.

 On many university campuses, students are warned about “micro-aggressions” for using “trigger words” which remind the hearer of past traumatic events:  “Selling someone down the river” is a racist reference to slavery; acting like a “hooligan” and being put into a “Paddy Wagon” are slur terms for those of Irish ethnicity; calling a rioter and looter a “thug” is code terminology for the “N word.”  If you have doubts about man’s role in climate change, you are branded a “global warming denier” (with the added insinuation echoing a holocaust denier).  Charlton Heston aptly referred to political correctness as “tyranny with manners.”

Durant’s comment on this phenomenon is instructive: “Civilization gives way to confrontation; law yields to minority force; marriage becomes a short-term investment in diversified insecurities; reproduction is left to mishaps and misfits; and the fertility of incompetence breeds from the bottom while the sterility of intelligence lets the race wither at the top.” 

What too many fail to recognize or acknowledge in the sophisticated, technologically-advanced 21^st century is that civilization is a razor-thin veneer.  Despite our scientific discoveries and breakthroughs, we remain captives of our primitive ancestors in our essential nature.  Man is only an evolutionary link between primitive apes and truly civilized human beings. 

Having served in the Royal Navy during World War II, Golding witnessed the worst of human behavior, with the cost of more than 60 million dead - six million of whom were cruelly obliterated in the concentration camps of a cultured and Christian European state. The trauma he witnessed occurred a mere twenty years after the seemingly minor and avoidable events leading to the outbreak of World War I, which claimed 37 million military and civilian casualties.  

Golding knew that those civilized British children in his novel represent the distressing reality about where humankind actually stands in its slow development as a species. Through his work, he speaks to the necessary, if unpleasant, fact that the golden rule is only possible within the context of the Golding rule: we must never fail to recognize and remember that civilization is built on the rule of law. Treating one another with generosity, kindness and decency is contingent upon our willingness to subordinate ourselves to the hard-won lessons of history. Without that commitment, we run the horrific risk of setting, not an island, but the world on fire.

Jim Lynch
Fleetwood, PA
August 2, 2015
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If you’d like to provide any feedback to Mr. Lynch, he can be reached at jimadalynch(at)gmail.com. You’ll need to fix that email to use it, by substituting the @ symbol for the (at) characters.

40th Reunion Planning Meeting

Hi Everyone,

        About a few months back I wrote saying how nostalgic I was feeling and wanted to start planning our Class Reunion…I know it’s two years away, but good planning takes a long time, that’s why we had such a great time at our 25^th Class Reunion, so now, if anyone doesn’t mind, I would like to start planning our 40^th. 

        The wheels are already spinning in my head with some fantastic ideas, two of which I’m keeping a secret so everyone can enjoy them, they’re small ideas, but they ‘re great and won’t cost anyone anything, it’s simple, but fun.  I know everyone can’t make it, and sorry, but I don’t know how Skype works, but I thought why can’t everyone join in, we’re in the year 2015, so I’m planning on meeting, tentatively for Friday, August 28^th, let’s say 8:00 p.m. at the Grotto in Edwardsville, if that day is not working for everyone, we’ll pick another day.  For those who live out of town, but still want to join in the planning, how about we do it via chat room on Facebook. I think I have just about everyone in our class as a Facebook friend, but I may have missed a few, that way it can all be planned together, sounds like a plan, huh?

        Here are a few items I thought of that will make this a success other than seeing my classmates and any teachers attending and what I think needs to be discussed.

1.      Have a Disc Jockey.

2.      Send out Save The Date Cards…that way no excuses for not being there.

3.      Pick a person to be our Treasurer…Arlene, you did such a great job at our 25^th, please be our Treasurer, no pressure.

4.      Pick a date, place and time for the Reunion.

5.      Maybe or maybe not have a theme.

As you can see, these are all in random order…I do have a lot of great ideas, but maybe someone in our class has some even better ideas, so with enough people attending and being on-line, I think we should keep with the old stand-by, majority rules, in case of a tie, we’ll flip a coin, that way it’s simple and a lot less feelings get hurt.

I hope all that is reading this is feeling just as nostalgic and please, please, please attend at the Grotto if you’re local.  Looking forward to hearing from everyone, especially the ideas and hoping everyone will help plan our 40^th Class Reunion and make this a success.  Really looking forward to hearing from all of you.

                                        Karen

Robbie Nardone

Robert John Nardone, 18, of Shavertown passed away at his home Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2014.

Born in Kingston, Robbie is the son of attorney John D. Nardone and Patricia Shumaker Nardone, Shavertown, and the beloved brother of Sara Nardone.

Robbie was a senior at Dallas Area High School and was employed by Fire and Ice in Shavertown. He enjoyed his job and was highly regarded by his employers and co-workers. He was an avid football fan, loved animals and spending time with his friends.

He was a kind and compassionate young man with a great sense of humor and an enormous heart. He will be forever missed by family, friends and all who knew him.

Robbie was a wonderful son and brother. He will be loved always by Mom, Dad and Sara more deeply than words could ever describe.

Preceding him in death were his paternal grandparents, Vincent C. and Matilda (Millie) Nardone, and maternal grandfather, Harold L. Shumaker.

Surviving, in addition to his parents and sister, are his maternal grandmother, Eleanor Shumaker, Florida; uncle, Dr. Vincent Nardone and wife, Karen, Connecticut; aunts, Carole Kneal and companion, Gary Burczy, Ashley; Theresa Murphy and husband, James, Kingston; and Pamela Hosack and husband, John, Colorado; and cousins, Dr. Vincent J. Nardone, Annaria Barnds and husband, Brandon, Heather and Allison Hosack.

Friends may call from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Harold C. Snowdon Funeral Home Inc., 140 N. Main St., Shavertown.

John Osolnick

LUZERNE — John V. Osolnick, 84, of Luzerne and Bradenton, Florida, passed away on Monday, Aug. 11, 2014, at the Hospice of the Sacred Heart, Dunmore.

He was born in Luzerne, a son of the late Joseph and Mary Varankar Osolnick. He attended Luzerne High School, was a U.S. Air Force veteran of the Korean War and was a member of Luzerne Borough Council for 20 years serving as president for most of that time. John was active in local and state politics and was an alternate delegate to the 1980 Democratic National Convention. He was a member of Local 645, of the carpenters union, for more than 55 years, where he served in numerous positions during his career.

He was preceded in death by a grandson John III; brothers, Frank, Joseph, Ernest Osolnick; sisters, Josephine Krupack, Johanna Varankar, Helen Osolnick.

John is survived by his wife, the former Gloria Arsenault; children, John Osolnick Jr., David Osolnick and his wife, Esther, Luzerne, Diane Boettger and her husband, John, Monroeville, Paul Osolnick and his wife Donna, West Wyoming, Mary Beth Waymire and her husband, John, Georgia; grandchildren, David and Paul Osolnick, Brian, Mark, Scott Boettger, Andrew Osolnick and Michael Waymire.

Funeral will be held at 9:30 a.m. Saturday from the Betz-Jastremski Funeral Home Inc., 568 Bennett St., Luzerne, with a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. in Holy Family Parish, Luzerne, with the Rev. Michael Zipay officiating. Interment will be in St. Ignatius Cemetery, Pringle. Friends may call from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.

To light a virtual candle or leave a message of condolence for his family, please visit www.betzjastremski.com.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Hospice of the Sacred Heart.

Agnes Bishie

LUZERNE — Agnes Bishie, 88, formerly of Luzerne and Allentown, died Aug. 5, 2014, at the Lutheran Home, Topton.

Born in Swoyersville, she was a daughter of the late Peter and Mary (Soy) Maholik and the wife of the late Leonard C. Bishie, with whom she celebrated 49 years of marriage before his death in 2000.

A 1942 graduate of Swoyersville High School, Agnes worked as a bookkeeper for businesses including Friar and Pizano in Luzerne and Gus Genetti Hotel, Wilkes-Barre.

An avid Philadelphia Phillies and Philadelphia Eagles fan, Agnes also enjoyed collecting recipes, shopping and spending time with her family.

She was a member of Holy Family Parish, Luzerne.

Her earlier struggle with cancer is documented on the Lehigh Valley Hospital's Wall of Hope, http://www.lvhn.org/assets/virtual_tours/hope2.swf.

She was preceded in death by her sister, Helen Benavage; and brother, Peter Maholik Jr.

Survivors include her daughters, Lorraine Schuette (Kenneth), Allentown, Lois Burke (Peter), Haddon Township, New Jersey, and Lucinda Bauer (Robert), Allentown; and her son, Leonard (Kim), Richmond Hill, Georgia. She was the cherished grandma of nine and great-grandma of six.

She will be greatly missed by her family.

The funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday from the Betz-Jastremski Funeral Home, 568 Bennett St., Luzerne, with a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:30 a.m. in Holy Family Church, 574 Bennett St., Luzerne, with the Rev. Michael Zipay officiating. Interment will be in St. Mary's Cemetery, Swoyersville. Friends may call from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.

To light a virtual candle or leave a message of condolence for her family, please visit www.betzjastremski.com.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Miracle League of Lehigh Valley, 4460 Park View Drive, Apt T8, Schnecksville, PA 18078,www.miracleleaguelv.org; or to Holy Family Church.

Millie Nardone

KINGSTON — Matilda "Millie" Nardone, of Kingston and formerly of Mountain Top, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, July 22, 2014, surrounded by her loving children. Her husband, the late Atty. Vincent C. Nardone, preceded her in death in 1964.

She was born in Larksville on Nov. 3, 1930, a daughter of the late George and Verna Motz Bialek. She attended Larksville schools and was a graduate of Larksville High School. She was a former member of St. Jude Church in Mountain Top, and was currently at St. Ignatius Church in Kingston.

Millie devoted her life to raising her children and grandchildren. Their gratitude and love for her can never be adequately expressed.

Surviving are her children, Dr. Vincent C. Nardone (Karen Stack), South Windsor, Connecticut, Atty. John C. Nardone (Patricia Shumaker), Dallas, Carole Kneal (Gary Burczy), Ashley, and Theresa Murphy (James Murphy), Kingston; grandchildren, Dr. Vincent J. Nardone, Annaria Barnds (Brandon), Sara Nardone and Robert Nardone; sisters, Helen Schlosser, Fairless Hills, Delores Kuharcik, North Palm Beach, Florida, and Barbara Beretsky, Larksville; a brother and sisters-in-law; several nieces and nephews.

The family thanks the numerous health care providers who gave Millie such wonderful care over the past few years, especially at John Heinz, Hospice of the Sacred Heart and her home health aide, Bonnie, but in particular John Kish, M.D., and his staff.

Funeral will be 9:30 a.m. Thursday from the Kopicki Funeral Home, 263 Zerbey Ave., Kingston, with a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. in St. Ignatius Church. Interment will be in St. Mary's Cemetery, Hanover Township. Friends may call from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of the Sacred Heart, 600 Baltimore Drive, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702.